Oh, My! What Big Ears You Have?!

Last weekend we not only celebrated we not only celebrated Mother’s Day, but we also celebrated my youngest daughter’s birthday. Her real birthday is actually in July, but because of Independence Day, most of her friends are usually out of town or have family plans. This year we decided to avoid the conflicts and have her birthday party before school gets out. She wanted to have a picnic for her birthday party, so I asked her if she wanted to do a Teddy Bear Picnic or something along the lines of a fairytale. She decided to go with Little Red Riding Hood and I was thrilled! I have always loved fairytales and especially Little Red Riding Hood. The wheels starting spinning and we started planning … if there is anything I love as much as scrapbooking it is putting together themed birthday parties. Love it, love it, LOVE it!!! Here is a quick look at all of the fun we had.

I was so lucky to find baskets at the dollar store, along with gingham printed napkins. I used the print-and-cut feature on my Cameo machine to cut out Lil’ Red Riding Hood shaped tags for each basket using the “More Happily Ever After” artwork by Lettering Delights. (The wolf can be found in the Villians and Sidekicks set HERE.) I also decided to sew each girl a Red Riding Hood out of felt. THANK YOU JoAnn’s for such great coupons! Each hood only cost me a couple of dollars and I used a free pattern I found online from FleeceFun.com HERE. If you are my mom or sister reading this, you are probably in complete SHOCK that I decided to sew. I hate sewing fabric … infact, I haven’t touched a sewing machine since 8th grade (well, except for to stitch on my layouts). It was actually FUN! I liked challenging myself to do something out of my norm. And because felt doesn’t fray and didn’t need a lot of hemming, I couldn’t mess it up too badly, right?!

I wasn’t sure if the girls even knew the Little Red Riding Hood story, so we started the party by watching this cute lil’ story video I found online. I was worried that it might be a little too “slow” for them, but they were glued! They were so quiet, just soaking it all in and it set the tone for the rest of the party perfectly. (I love when little kids get into pretending. )

The girls got to pack their own picnic and then ventured out into the backyard to find the best picnic spot. They looked so cute sitting there on the blankets … they kept looking around nervously wondering if the Big Bad Wolf would come. Big Sister dressed up in a long black cloak and decided to sneak around to surprise them. They saw her the entire time, but the anticipation made them squeal like crazy.

The girls also made a stuffed animal friend. We found a great company here in Utah called Kozy Creation that will actually come to your house with a machine and do it all in the comfort of your living room. Kami and Andrew are AMAZING! This is the second time we have used them … Maryn had a pretend sleepover party a few months ago and she and her friends got to make a furry friend to cuddle with. If you are in Utah, be sure to check Kozy Creation out.

The girls played more games outside (Pick a Bouquet for Grandma and Colored Eggs, or in this case “Colored Cookies”), sang to Camryn, gobbled up red velvet cupcakes, and opened presents. It was so much fun!

Mother’s Day was just as fun! Here is a Mother’s Day card that I made my Mother-In-Law using leftover bits from the April 2013 Scraptastic Club Kit, “Awake My Soul” along with a sentiment and flowers from my stash. We went to church in the morning, the kids showered me with cards and presents (new cookie sheets, a cookbook, new seat cushions for my outdoor table, and lots of pretty handmade cards), and made me lunch. I got to take a long nap and then they made me dinner before going to visit my In-Laws that night. It was relaxing and perfect!

I know this post is a few days overdue, but thanks for letting me share last weekend’s festivities with you. It took me a few days to recuperate and get back into the swing of things. I’ll be back tomorrow with a couple of layout shares. Hope to see you then!

Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Embossing Folders – POPPY

I’m back with Day 2 of my Cuttlebug Anna Griffin embossing folders projects. Today I will show you the projects I created using the POPPY embossing folder.

POPPY Embossing Folder

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Wedding Invitation

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Machines Used:  Cricut® Expression Electronic Cutting Machine, Cuttlebug® Machine

Cricut Cartridges Used: Cricut Picturesque Cartridge, Cricut® Paper Lace 2 Cartridge, Cricut® Lacy Labels Lite Cartridge

Cuttlebug Folders Used: Cuttlebug® 5” x 7” Embossing Folder & Border, Poppy; Cuttlebug A2 Embossing Folder, Swiss Dots

Other Supplies: Cardstock (cream shimmer), Creamy Brown chalk ink, Computer & Printer, Scoring tool, Photo corner punch, Adhesive, Terrifcally Tacky Tape, Foam squares

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Seed Packet Card

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut® Expression Electronic Cutting Machine, Cuttlebug® Machine, Cricut® Gypsy Handheld Design Device

Cricut Cartridges Used: Cricut® Sentimentals Cartridge, Cricut® Holiday Cakes Cartridge, Cricut® Florals Embellished Cartridge

Cuttlebug Folders Used: Cuttlebug® 5” x 7” Embossing Folder & Border, Poppy

Other Supplies: Cardstock (white, gray, lavender, aqua, dark moss), Patterned Paper (green polka dot, pink floral), Ribbon, Mini safety pin, Seed packets, Creamy Brown chalk ink, Corner rounder, 1/16″ hole punch, Adhesive, Foam squares

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Four Seasons Framed Artwork

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut® Expression Electronic Cutting Machine, Cuttlebug® Machine, Cricut Craft Room^® Design Software

Cricut Cartridges Used: Cricut® Serenade Solutions Cartridge, Cricut Noah’s ABC Animals Cartridge, Cricut Craft Room® Basics Exclusive

Cuttlebug Folders Used: Cuttlebug® 5” x 7” Embossing Folder & Border, Poppy

Other Supplies: Cardstock (light cream smooth, cream textured, kraft, dark brown, pink, soft red, soft orange, moss, aqua), Patterned Paper (green/cream pattern, green polka dot), Ribbon, Buttons, Mini black pearl stickers, White pearl stickers, Dark brown Embroidery floss & needle, Twine, Brown spray ink, Dark yellow spray ink, Creamy Brown chalk ink, Brown chalk ink, Paper piercer, Sewing Machine & cream thread, Edge distressor tool, White frame (with 8″ x 10″ opening), Adhesive, Foam squares

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I hope you will back tomorrow for the final installment of my Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Projects! See you then!

Guest Designing at My Creative Scrapbook

Life has been pretty crazy on the homefront lately. Some good (warming weather, lots of fun freelance designing, and getting ready to go to Disney later this month), and some not-as-good (problems with my sciatic nerve, sick kiddos Boo!) . . . but it all comes together to make a pretty good life, so I can’t complain.

I had the opportunity to Guest Design for My Creative Scrapbook. I have guested for them before and was so thrilled when Pam contacted me again. She has great kits and is such a sweet gal. On top of that, their design team does AMAZING work. You really should swing in and see their gallery when you get a minute. FUN stuff!

 

For March, I got to play with the Main Kit. Lots of fun 5th and Frolic in this kit with the cutest set of Prima wood cuts EVER! I literally giggled when I first saw them. Check it out!

Pam not only as a Main Kit, but two other kits each month, as well. Here is the Kit page for March. Beautiful! Beautiful! And something for everyone. Love that!

Well, let’s take a looksy at the projects I created with this kit, shall we? The colors of this kit felt so girly and springy to me. I browsed through my pictures from last Spring and found some snapshots of my kiddos at the park. The minute the sun comes out in the Spring all they want to do is go to the park … every park. And lots of times, we just stop at one out-of-the-blue on our way to somewhere else. It’s pretty fun!

I loved the 5th and Frolic paper with the clipboards. I cut them out and placed a row of three of them across the top of my photo grouping. My pictures didn’t fill the width of the page … which was fine with me … it was a fun opportunity to fill the gap with that darling tree sticker.

From there, I just had fun adding interesting bits here-and-there.

On this next page, I pulled out the Easter pics of the kids from last year. I’m pretty good to get their pictures in their Easter dresses/suit BEFORE we head out the door to church, but for whatever reason, I completely FORGOT this year. I remembered on our way home … and by then, the kids had already started pulling their itchy clothes off getting ready to relax. I MADE them come out in the backyard for a few shots. The sun was harsh, but hey, atleast we got ‘em before they were down to their skivvies, right?! LOL!

There is the fourth cutie clipboard from the 5th & Frolic paper.

And I definitely HAD to add more of those cute birdies on this page, too! That bit of lace included in the kit was the perfect elegant touch to round off this Easter page.

For this last page, I scrapbooked pictures of my daughter on the last day of Kindergarten. I always get sad on the last day of school. Yep. I cry. I don’t know what it is. There is something emotional about a year coming to a close and seeing how much your child has grown. Time … slow down, will ya!

I placed the 5th & Frolic diagonal paper on it’s side and layered my photos on top.

A few spashes of white spray ink add to the casual, carefree feel of this page.

Beautiful Prima flowers! The hearts are embossed with a new Cuttlebug 12″ Border that came out. Love those hearts. I can see myself adding them to lots of page in the future.

I’m not really a gold gal … but I have to admit that I’m loving that trend in the scrappy world. The gold adds a touch of warmth and shine.

Finally, I have a card that I made with the last bits of my kit. The kit comes with a Prima mask, I decided to use it as a stencil and did some dry embossing with my stylus along the bottom of this card. It doesn’t show up very well on camera, but it really is a fun touch on this card!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for taking a peek at the work I did with the March Main Kit for My Creative Scrapbook. And THANK YOU again to Pam for having me!

See you again soon!

Winter Cricut Projects

Last weekend, we were hit with a HUGE snowstorm. We received 24″ within 12 hours and school was cancelled the next morning. My kids were excited to be home from school and the girls ventured out to play for a bit.

Maryn LOVED the deep snow. Here she is *trying* to make it to the front door … she gave up halfway and came back.

Snow angels are a little hard to do in deep snow.

Cam wasn’t that big of a fan. She wasn’t feeling well and wanted to play so badly. But it was too darn cold. She took a few obligatory photos and then headed back inside with the dog.

In the spirit of snow, I thought I would share a few wintry projects for you that I created for Cricut awhile ago using the Snow Folks Cartridge.

HOT COCOA KIT

A clear craft paint can makes a cute container to make a hot cocoa kit with. Just layer together hot cocoa mix and marshmallows and add a tag with instructions. It’s sure to warm up someone’s day! Instructions and a Cricut Craft Room cut file can be found HERE on the Cricut.com website.

SLEDDING PARTY INVITATION 

Are you getting friends together for a sledding party soon? This window invitation would be a fun way to get everyone excited. Instructions and a Cricut Craft Room Cut File can be found HERE at the Cricut.com site.

I LOVE WINTER Scrapbook Page

This fun and happy snow page uses the Bella Blvd. Winter Wonder collection. I added a heart to the title block over the existing heart with the Doodlecharms cartridge. The heart and snowman are embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, and the snowman’s sled gets a woodgrain texture with the Distress Stripes embossing folder. Instructions and a Cricut Craft Room Cut File for this project can be found HERE on the Cricut.com site.

Thanks for coming by today! I hope you are staying warm in your neck of the woods!

BasicGrey Knee Highs & Bow Ties

Oh, how I love CHA time! For those of you who may not know … CHA stands for the Craft & Hobby Association trade show that happens twice a year for the craft industry. It is a show for retailers to preview and order all the goodies that the crafty companies will be releasing in the near future. It is also a time that designers, like me, get giddy as can be because we have new TOYS coming down the pipeline for us to play with. Eeeek!

BasicGrey has begun their reveals on the BasicGrey Blog and oh. my. GOSH! Wait until you see everything!!! I’ll share with you my projects as I can, but be sure to peruse the blog so you can see all the delicious product images.

BasicGrey KNEE HIGHS Collection

First up is a card using the Knee Highs collection. (I love the names they come up with for the collections … doesn’t this just take you back.) I’m a sucker for bright happy colors … makes me excited for the warmer Spring and Summer days ahead! I used the vellum tapes to create the layered stripes on this card (I adhered them to white cardstock first and then cut it out), then I layered a few vellum hearts on top.

BasicGrey BOW TIES Collection

Oh, yes!!! The Bow Ties collection for boys is TO DIE FOR!!! My favorite image from this collection? … The cute little potato bugs, or roly polies, or whatever you call them. When I was young I used to “collect” these little bugs and make little houses for them in shoe boxes. They are too cute! I can see myself using this collection a LOT! The colors are perfect for scrapping family memories. Here is a page from our road trip last year.

Thanks for coming by all this week! I’ll be back with more on Monday!

Have a fantastic weekend!

It’s a Jolly Holiday

Creative Memories has a brand new Cricut cartridge out called Holiday Frames & Tags. I created some holiday themed projects using this cartridge, but honestly, this is one of those cartridges that you will be pulling out all year long.

DEAR SANTA

Use just the shapes from the tags to create accents for your page like I did with the tree and snowflakes here (snowbank is handcut).

Use the frames as a journaling spot. This cart also includes some FANTASTIC fonts!

Find the design cut file for this project in the Cricut Project Center HERE. (Note: You must own the Holiday Frames & Tags cartridge to cut from the design file.)

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY COUNTDOWN

I wanted to create a countdown that could be draped across my mantel. I cut out 12 envelope shapes, bending the flap backwards and adhering in place. this create a “pocket” for me to string the envelopes together on a ribbon. Inside each envelope are family activities and traditions that can be done on the days leading up to Christmas.

Find the design cut file for this project in the Cricut Project Center HERE. (Note: You must own the Holiday Frames & Tags cartridge to cut from the design file.)

INVITATION

This cartridge also includes a couple of rosettes! I decorated the front of this invitation with one.

Find the design cut file for this project in the Cricut Project Center HERE. (Note: You must own the Holiday Frames & Tags cartridge to cut from the design file.)

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The kids are out school at the end of this week, so I will be as busy as an elf trying to get as much done as I can before they are home. If you don’t see me around much, just know that I am working away in Santa’s Workshop! Hehehe!

Merry Christmas!

A Couple of Cards

I have a confession … I haven’t started on any of my Christmas shopping. GULP! I know! I gotta get a move on! I’m on a mission to hit the stores today, but I thought I would let you know in case you don’t see me around here much over the next couple of weeks.

I do have a couple of quick cards to share with you today. The first one is an invitation I made for a Christmas dinner I hosted at our house last night for the young women (and their moms) from my church.

It’s a card file designed by Lori Whitlock and is available in the Silhouette Online Store. I’m sooooo thankful for predesigned files like this when I am in a hurry. They allow me to still get the handcrafted look I adore on projects without having to sit down and figure out a design.

I was in the mood to play with my Copics and stamped out a few images (KaiserCraft Tiny Woods stamps) to play around with. I was experimenting with creating a wintry feel with these images by coloring everything with blue tones. The card and banner shapes were cut using my Silhouette machine. The sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp exclusive set designed by Kristina Werner. The little circles come from a My Mind’s Eye Follow Your Heart Be Happy stamp set. And the snowbank was embossed with my Cuttlebug machine and the Swiss Dots embossing folder.

Okay! Off to get some shopping done!

Have a great day!

Little Red Schoolhouse

Can you feel it yet? Autumn is just around the corner. YAY!!! Yes, it is still crazy hot during the days, but at night there an ever-so-slight change in the “feel” of the air signaling that cooler days are ahead. I love it! I love it! I love it! I have been busy going on school-shopping dates with the kids this past week. Two and a half down (Jensyn still needs a few things), and one to go! I love school shopping! And I love the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with each of my kids. We have so much fun laughing over the quirky things that happen while we are out (like the waitress serving us our salads at lunch and asking us if we need forks for those . . . Bwaaahaaa!).

I have been using my Silhouette machine a lot lately and have a new obsession … the digital cut files at SVG Cuts. They have digital files for the most adorable boxes and cards you have ever seen! And they do a BEAUTIFUL job showcasing them and explaining how to put them together with their videos. I decided it would be fun to put together the shoolhouse boxes from the School Days SVG kit for the kids’ to take to their teachers on the first day of school filled with notecards or a notepad and a goodie or two.

These kinds of projects are perfect for making a dent in the papers I am hoarding in my stash. For this first schoolhouse set, I used the Hometown collection by Pink Paislee, with a ledger paper and plaid paper from the Old School collection.

I created the card exactly as it comes in the file, but added a band of plaid paper underneath the pencils. The cute burlap buttons are from Nikki Sivils.

I had a blast decorating the shoolhouse. The ABC and apple cuts are from SVG Cuts and are included in the School Days digital kit. The flag and owl were created with my Cricut Expression machine. The owl is from the Recess Lite cartridge (I trimmed his graduation hat off with my scissors), and the flag is from the Stand & Salute cartridge (with the flag pole trimmed a bit shorter). The little chalkboard is a Silhouette cut by Lori Whitlock. I wrote on the chalkboard with a white gel pen, and then punched tiny holes in the corners so that I could hang it by the door with a mini brad and a bit of twine. The red cardstock panel on the front of the schoolhouse was  embossed with my Cuttlebug machine and the Distress Stripes embossing folder.

The letter stickers are from the Pink Paislee Old School collection. And the bushes around the sides of the schoolhouse were created with my Cricut Expression machine and the Live Simply Lite cartridge.

The roof of the schoolhouse opens up on a hinge. At the tallest point of the roof it is 6.5″ tall, so you could even put in a cute, decorated bottle of hand sanitizer if you wanted.

I didn’t have enough paper to do all of the schoolhouses the same . . . which is completely fine to me! Heck, it gives me a chance to make a dent in my stash. Here is the same schoolhouse, created in a slightly darker color scheme with all Pink Paislee Old School papers.

I added a little embossing to the pencils on this one with the Cuttlebug Polka Dots embossing folder and then wrapped the pencils with some My Mind’s Eye baker’s twine.

My kids are in love with these little boxes and can’t wait to surprise their teachers with them. Hehehe! Hmmmm … maybe I will send their teachers a new goodie box every single month JUST so I can have a reason to have fun making more boxes! Ha!

Have a great week!

More My Mind’s Eye Indie Chic

Happy Thursday, bloggy world! I’m back again this week to share more My Mind’s Eye Indie Chic projects. This time I had fun playing around with the Nutmeg collection.

GONE FISHIN’

These pictures of my family fishing had a lot of green in them from the grass in the background. The golds, blues, and browns of the Nutmeg Indie Chic collection worked out to be a nice compliment to the green.

I used the stamps to create several elements on this page. First, I created two stamped borders to go along the top and bottom of my photo strip. I handcut around the design and layered the borders on top of a more subtle patterned paper.

Next, I created the circle accents to sprinkle around my page. The pearl brads in the center of each one are from the decorative brads set. The brown letters in my title are by American Crafts. I cut the word “Fishin’” on my Cricut Expression machine using the Wildlife cartridge (I trimmed off the word “gone” because I like to mix fonts in my title). I cut the word out twice on two different 6 x 6 mini papers, trimmed apart the letters on one of the papers and adhered them to the other for a subtle pattern change. You have probably noticed that I really like doing this. I do it a lot! I also cut the word out again on kraft cardstock and offset it for a shadow effect underneath the title.

You can just see a corner of them here, but I also used the stamps to accent the journal block. I used the date and compass stamp from the same stamp set as above.

JUST HANGING OUT

I have a thing for patterned papers and can’t get enough of them! Here I created a quilted effect by cutting several of the 6 x 6 mini papers into 1 inch squares. I adhered them in a random pattern on a kraft cardstock base. I stamped my sentiment on another mini paper and then framed it out using the wood element from the Nutmeg Indie Chic collection. I LOVE these wood elements. I tend to leave them bare . . . but one of these days I want to experiment with them and try adding water colors.

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have a great weekend!

Jana

My Mind’s Eye Indie Chic Citron Collection

Hi Everyone! I had the opportunity to play with the new My Mind’s Eye Indie Chic Citron collection to create some projects for the My Mind’s Eye blog. Here is what I made.

The first paper that popped out to me was the one with the large floral coming in off of one corner. It felt very tropical to me and I knew it would be a great starting point for this page of my husband and I relaxing on the beach on our anniversary trip this past January.

The next paper I reached for was the wavy blue paper . . . kind of reminds you of ocean waves, right?! I layered this paper together with a few others, along with the natural colored trim, and then arranged my photos on top of these layered strips.

Next, I pulled in a few die cut frame pieces and the journal tag and found them spots within my design. The aqua frame is actually from an older My Mind’s Eye collection, the Sophie collection. I cut out the center and used it to frame my title. That is one thing I love about My Mind’s Eye . . . the colorstories in each of their collections cross-pollinate so well together! I know I can always hang onto my unused page elements, and use them down the road with future collections . . . Nothing like getting bang for your buck! Right?! Love that!

I wanted to carry the tropical feeling of the flowers around my page, so I grabbed a few of the floral stickers and tucked them behind my photos. Next, I added in some natural elements, like the wood buttons, wood phrase, and twine . . . these took me right back to that wooden cabana we spent the day in. I had those awesome bamboo looking letter stickers just waiting for me in my stash. They are from the K & Company Handmade collection that was put out about 12 to 18 months ago. I love how they just seal the feel of this page.

The next thing I created with this collection was a card. I chose to use the “Watch You Grow” chipboard phrase from the Layered chipboard elements and used the phrase as the starting point to my design. I used the 6 x 6 mini papers to handcut out some uneven flower shapes. I layered them together with a few of the buttons from the Citron collection and then cut out leaves from a mini paper to add to the flower stems.

The grass was made with my Martha Stewart Crafts fringe scissors (seriously brilliant tool . . . why hasn’t anyone come up with this tool before now?!) After cutting the fringe, I went back in with my small detail scissors and snipped the blades of “grass” into different lengths for variety. The background was dry embossed with a NEW cloud embossing folder from the Skyward Embossing Folders set and my Cuttlebug machine. (This set also has a SUPER CUTE star background, hot air balloons, and old-fashioned airplanes patterns that I can’t wait to try out.) I sanded the embossed areas a bit to reveal the white core of the patterned papers.

The last thing I made with this collection was a cute milk carton container. I’m thinking this will make the perfect gift box to hold some treats in for my husband for Father’s Day.

I cut the milk carton shape out using my Cricut Expression machine and the Tags Bags Boxes & More 2 cartridge. The great thing about this cartridge is that it has a scoring feature! I simply change out the housing to the scoring tip, select the score lines and press cut. Then I cut the outline of the milk carton shape with the cutting blade. When I remove the cut from my mat, all I need to do is fold and adhere. Yes! That is rockin’ awesome! Saves me a bunch of time!

I wrapped the carton with a band of contrasting patterned paper from the Indie Chic Citron collection. Next, I added one of the dimensional stickers to the front of the box to serve as a focal point. The sticker comes as a diamond shape. I wanted the orientation of the sticker to be a square, so I carefully peeled it apart, matted the layers with 6 x 6 papers from the same collection, and then adhered everything back together so that it was now a square sticker, instead of a diamond.

The sides felt a little blank to me, so I used a star punch and added a few “windows” to the patterned paper strip. To close the box, I used a length of twine adorned with one of the chipboard slider shapes. Works like a charm!

Well, that’s it for today! But I have also been playing with the NEW My Mind’s Eye Indie Chic Nutmeg collection. I will share those projects later this week, so I hope to see you again soon!

Happy Spring!